Akhaya Women receive funding from UNDP to help support their work with female survivors of domestic violence. They work to break down the barriers that they believe are holding women back, mainly the dominance of social and cultural norms that depict women as subservient to men and not suited to decision making. Akhaya run an empowerment programme with groups of women highlighting that violence is not something to be tolerated but challenged. The organisation works to build women’s self-esteem by giving them new skills and supporting them in setting up small businesses for example jewellery making.
One of the businesses created by the women set about blinging up whistles that the UNDP distributes as part of its global ‘Whistle for Help’ campaign. The whistles are given to women from vulnerable communities to blow when they feel threatened or have been abused in some way. The hope is the alert will bring them help. The entrepreneurial spirit is very clearly present at Akhaya Women who decided not just to generate income from the project but to contribute to the popularity of the whistles by turning them into a must have fashion accessory. What is also apparent is the importance of promoting female independence and challenging violence within a supportive and safe network and organisation such as Akhaya.
Tamsin Bradley, September 2016